Newspapers / Carteret County News-Times (Morehead … / Aug. 12, 1952, edition 2 / Page 15
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% ? State's Accessible Isolation Attracts U. S. Manufacturers, Marketers, Money By W. Kerr Scott. Governor of North Carol la* f North Carolina, which never belonged to the moonlight and magnolia set of the Old South, has forged to economic social leadership in the New South. The state that a bare half century ago was dismissed as a "valley of humility between two mountains of conceit" has achieved the No. 1 position in virtually every important economic index among the Southeastern states ? and that includes everything south of Pennsylvania and east of the Mississippi river. National advertisers find fertiKe fields in North Carolina ? both as a market for their wares and as a place to pro duce goods lor ready marketing' elsewhere. The Tar Heel state's progress in the last decade has been phenom enal. And it is no accident that it has. Accessible Isolation ? the slogan popularized in the last two years in the state's own national adver tising ? did it. What It Means "Accessible Isolation" means simply that North Carolina is with in overnight delivery distance to nearly half the nation's population; that it is connected with the world's richest markets by an un equalled network of rail, air, high way and water transportation fa cilities; that it is isolated from vul nerable congestions of population and industry, and that it has with in its borders the materials and the labor essential to profitable busi ness operation. In the last year industries as fa miliar to the American public as the pages of their favorite maga zines established new facilities in North Carolina. They include: General Electric. Western Electric, duPont, Duplan, Celanese. Belding Hemingway, Union Carbide, Berk shire Hosiery, Gotham Hosiery, American Woolen, Burlington Mills, J. P. Stevens co., Artloom Carpet co., Chlorox Chemical co., and Kiegel Paper co. In all there were 101 of these, and they invest ed in excess of $140,000,000 in the iuture of North Carolina. These new additions joined a fa miliar roster of national adver tisers, indigenous or long-estab lished. which have prospered with North Carolina's rapid advance. These include the manufacturers of Camel, Lucky Strike and Chester field cigarettes, Cannon towels, Chatham blankets, Cone denims, Enka rayon, Dayton and Firestone tire and rubber products. Globe batteries, Kroehler, Heritage, ? Drexel. Tomlinson and numerous other fine furnitures; Alba. Hud son, Townwear, Kayser, Cameo, Mojud, and numerous other brands of hosiery; Champion and Mead papers; and Fieldcrest, Robbins. Pacific Mills, B.V.D. Durham, Er win and numerous other manufac turers of textile products, and mis cellaneous products of Container corp., Sperry, Daystrom and a long list of other manufacturers of na tionally advertised goods. 'The Largest' North Carolina i* the nation's largest producer of textiles. It is the largest manufacturer of tobac- , co and the largest grower of ciga rette leaf. It is the nation's largest maker of wooden furniture. Its third largest industry is non-ex tractive ? tourists to the Great Smokies and Blue Ridge, mid south winter resorts, and a 320 I mile coast, including Kitty FIawk, I where the first flight was made. | Roanoke Island, site of the first English settlement in America, and I Cape Hatteras, "Graveyard of the j Atlantic." The tourist industry I yielded $300,000,000 in 1951 by Fifth Federal Reserve district reckoning. These industries grew up in North Carolina, or were influenced to branch out in the Tar Heel state, from parent operations else where, without monetary subsidy from the state government. They staked their investment on North Carolina's long record of good gov ernment and fair taxes. Value of manufactured products in 1950 was $5,031,000,000 as com pared with $4,079,800.00 in 1949. Total retail sales in 1950 were $2, 444,000,000, up from $2,294,535,000 a year before. Per capita income (still held down disproportionately by the numbers of Negroes who aw {progressing, but as a race have not attained the economic maturity that they eventually will) was $95 1 .00 in 1950, up from $850.00 in 1949. The Backbone: Farming While industry has risen to a dol lar value far above agriculture in modern North Carolina, diversified farming continues the backbone of the state's economy. Cash income from agriculture in 1950 was $786,028,000. with tobacco alone yielding $485,000,000, the principal crop. Others ranged from corn, second most important, to grapes for fine dessert wi. ^ and flowers for markets in the great cities of the north. Livestock production is growing rapidly with the wide spread development of year 'round "Green Pastures." Mining and forestry anre also principal assets. The state is the largest producer of mica and feld spar, important in the manufacture of ceramics. These mines are mostly found in the Blue Ridge mountains area and the town of Spruce Pine is a mining center. The nation's second largest tung sten mine, which produced ore vital to the national defense and valued at over $4,000,000 in 1951 is located in the Piedmont section of the state in Vance county and its facilities for extracting the stra tegic mineral are being doubled in 1952. North Carolina is also advancing rapidly as a distributive and man agerial center. Numerous large ? national firms have branches in the state, and two giant textile enter prises, Celanese and Puplan, are i establishing administrative offices j in Charlotte, largest North Caro lina city. Population Grows Population growth has been steady. North Carolina is the 10th state in population ? 4.061.929 in 1950. In 1940. it was 3,571,623. But despite this growth, the Tar Heel state is still one of small towns and small farms. Its popu lation is divided as follows: rural i 2,693,828. urban 1.368,101, giving it the largest I'ural population in the nation. It also has more farms than any other state: 286,905 val ued at $1,905,000,000 in 1950. Its largest city is Charlotte, 134,042. In its list of ten largest cities, there appears in 10th place an unincor porated village! It is Kannapolis, 28.448 by the 1950 census, and site of the Cannon mills. The problem of "How to Keep 'Em Down on the Farm" ? even after they've "seen Paree" is be ing solved deliberately in North Carolina by reversing an historic trend. North Carolina is taking the advantage of urban living and employment to the rural areas, in stead of forcing country people \o move to cities to enjoy benefits of modern living. During 1951, North Carolina laid down farm-to market roads at the rate of 18 miles a day. In the four years of this administration, there will have been completed about 12,000 miles of hard-surfaced rural i roads, and thousands of miles addi- 1 tional stabilized for all-weather travel. The state highway system comprises nearly 70,000 miles. This permits industries to build away from cities. This assures a plenti ful labor supply that is as nearly "depression proof' as any labor supply can be, because not only roads weld small farms to indus try, but the small farm dwellers have electricity, telephones, schools, churches, and hospitals. In the past three years, 83.000 rural customers have been added to rural electrification lists. As of this date. 87 per cent of North Carolina farms are accessible to power. Since 1949. a total of 49,270 tele phones have been installed -r- an increase of 34 4 per cent in three years. In the last three years. North Carolina has invested $115,000,000 in modern school buildings, and op erates the largest school bus fleet in the world. There is a uniform nine-months school term supported by state funds. This is frequently supplemented locally. In this same three-year period. North Carolina has built or approved 102 new hos pitals. many in rural areas, increas ing hospital beds to 13,169 t>eds ? or 3.3 per cent per 1,000 popula tion. It has made progress in pro viding additional facilities for men tal patients. Ports for Progress The stale ports program, fi nanced by a $7,500,000 self-liquidat ing bond issue, is being completed in 1952. This will improve deep water ports at Wilmington and Morehead City, already used for shipments of petroleum products, tobacco, cotton, lumber, and vari ous dry cargoes. Construction held at a high level in fl951. The total contracts award Pari II Ymts Brings County 131.8 Riles Paving During the past 10 years, the State Highway and Public Works commission has paved 131.8 miles of road in Carteret county, according to figures released by the chairman of the commission, Henry W. Jordan. That mileage was actually taken care of in the period from ?1M2 up to the middle of 1951. Passage of the Powell Mil In the 1951 legislature put the construc tion of new roads in municipali ties in the Hands of the munici palities themselves. During the past 10 years 66.8 miles of rural roads have been paved in the county. Seventy three per cent of those miles, 49.9, have been paved since Jan uary 1949. ed during the year amounted to $350,893,000. For the fiscal year ended June 30. 1951, the state general fund tax collections were $162,072,863 and j expenditures $149,794,702. North Carolina's tax system is unique. There is no state tax on ! I property. Essential services, such as schools and roads, are supported I by the state through sales and in I come levies, freeing local units from these fundamental obliga I tions. This state policy is re flected in lower ad valorem rates. North Carolina's tax structure is stable. There has been no increase in corporate taxes since 1933, when basic state tax laws now in effect were adopted. In 1947 the fran chise rate was reduced. State reve nues have consistently exceeded ap propriations. Constantly increasing yields from the realistic tax basis established in 1933 have been ade quate to finance expansion of pub lic services in keeping with grow ing needs of a progressive state. Bank resources have grown steadily. As of Dec. 31, 1951, the total was $2,295,360,355.31. This compares with $2,060,921,080.32 as of Dec. 31, 1950. North Carolina welcomes indus try. Business prospers in the Jar Heel state. (The foregoing account of North Carolina's industrial prog ress appears in the 1952 edition (volume 16) of "Markets of America," published by the Ad I vertiser magazine of New YacJl ? The Editor). Dr. Bonner 9 Leading Citizen (Continued from Page 3, Section 4) one quarter ?million dollars have been repaid. Dr. Bonner's hobby is playing contract bridge. Several months ago, paired with Mrs. Alvah Ham ilton, he won the trophy for mixed bridge. The trophy, donated by i Mr. E. M. (Al) Dewey, is a travel ing trophy, and the championship must be defended each year. This is the first year it has been award ed. Dr. Bonner is a member of the county bridge league. Quite aside from her husband's hobby, Mrs. Bonner raises pure bred Chihuahuas. Dr. Bonner is a Mason, a mem ber of the Historical Medical com mission. the Carteret County Med ical society, and the North Carolina State Medical society. During world war II he was organizer and county chairman of the civil de fense council. In 1925 he was in cluded in Who's Who in American I Medicine. He has contributed to various medical journals. Dr. Bonner relates the following incident as the strangest and most interesting experience he ever had: One afternoon in 1947, his tele phone rang, and upon answering it he heard an entirely unfamiliar feminine voice. She told the doc tor he had been treating her, and asked him to call her father, also a physician, in Los Angeles, Cal., and tell him that she was on the verge of taking pneumonia. Insisting all the while that he did not know the young woman, Dr. Bonner placed the long distance j call merely as a friendly gesture to | a fellow physician. The California doctor wanted to know whether his ; daughter was really sick and if she j was living alone. She was, in real- j ity, a married woman, although pos- ' ing as a single girl in Morehead City. * ? Having been brought into the ; case against his own volition. Dr. I Bonner was determined at this point to see it through to the fin ish. The nex^ morning he visited the local hospital, where the girl claimed to be working. The secre tary on duty informed the doctor that the girl came to work only a few times and she was always drunk, so they discharged her at once. No one knew where she was rooming, but it was generally agreed that at that moment she was somewhere in a bar. Visits Bars on Search After leaving the hospital, Dr. Bonner started on a round of the local bars, but at first people de nied knowing her. Finally a man said he had heard of her and that she lived in a local tourist home. With this lead, the doctor went to ?th? chief of police for some help in locating the girl. She had not shown up for court when she was charged with public drunkenness, and the chief was ready to put her in jail on sight. "California Mary," as the girl had become known around town, was not in her room. She had stayed there one night, called her fattier in Los Angeles, and left the house owing a huge telephone bill. Obtaining another lead on wh*re she probably was living, the search ers went there, and found that Mary was not in. Dr. Bonner left a message for her to call him as soon as she came. Around 5:30 that afternoon, a young woman bounced into his office and an nounced herself as the girl for whom he was looking. He gave her a verbal trouncing for coming to see him in a drunken condition, and for leading the riotous life she was known for around Morehead City and the Marine bates. After talking with the girl for a while, the doctor realized that she had a brilliant mind, and she ad mitted having attended the Univer sity of California for two years. She was polite and respectful, even when under the influence of bran dy. She said that her family was originally from St. Louis, and that her father had studied with the Rockefeller foundation for several years. That evening Mary's father call ed Dr. Bonner and told him that he had made reservations for his daughter to come home. He asked that Bonner advanee enough money to get her from Morehead City to Wilmington, where she would board the train for St. Louis and be met there by her brother. Dr. Bonner agreed to the plan, and the next morning he went to Mary's apartment to take her to the bus station, but Mary was nowhere to be found. Another search was begun, and it continued all day and into the | night. Dr. Bonner had given a po- % liceman money to buy a bus ticket to Wilmington, and was instructed not to give Mary the money but t instead to give her the ticket. r When the night relief policeman j came on duty he did not know that | the girl was not supposed to have ] the money. He saw her and hand ed her the bus fare telling her to ] buy the ticket. i Spends Money 1 Mary disappeared again, and | spent the money on wine and beer. I The next day she was found again. < This time a policeman escorted her < to Wilmington by bus. and from < the minute she boarded the train I there, she was under watch of FBI ; agents, whom her father had called in to help. She reached St. Louis on schedule and was met by her ' brother. In a few days, Dr. Bonner re ?eived a letter from the Califon i physician, thanking him for all t ? trouble to which he had gone, a i lending money to cover all the < pense he had incurred. He t< 1 the story of Mary's life, how 8 p *as mentally twisted, and yet i t fomented to the ?xtent of requ - ng confinement in an institute i. She had a brother who held a pro i inent position in St. Louis, and a lister who was happily married n California. They were ideal ch 1 Jren, the father's letter relate I, but Mary had always been a sour e jf anxiety to them. When she reached St. Lou i, Mary's brother took her to an J i ititution where she stayed for 34 r fral weeks. Upon her release & e went to work as a chemical < i gineer in St. Louis. About three months later, wh< n Dr. Bonner had aimost forgotti n Mary, he had a letter from hi expressing her gratitude for \ s tireless efforts to get her straigl ?ned out. She enclosed a new i paper clipping, telling of how h r father had been murdered by a ?razed drug addict. She never sj v her father arive after her escapad s in Morehead City, but she flew o California for the funeral and to< t ner mother back to St. Louis i> live. Dr. Bonner has heard nothing i Mary since March 1947, and 10 ill s day he does not know w hy she ca l pd him to help her. Stories ol til s sort are usually fictitious, but U Bonner will swear to this one. To the man who has been |o close to the history of Morehegd City's progress, the future of tie town seems bright indeed. He plans to stay here and continue ?i the progress which for so longla time has been characteristic ff Morehead City and the county. . j Carteret, Too, Set Up Tire Rationing Board Dr. K. P. B. Bonner, county co| - nissioner chairman, named W. I . raylor. William M. Webb and < . VI. Hill to the tire rationing boaf ! or Carteret county in Januaiyr 1942. Taylor was the postmaster Beaufort; Webb a prominent but - lessman in Morehead City; aijd Hill a farmer and merchant of New port. The rationing went into fect January 5 and motorists weie warned to save their rubber. "Thfe L'an be done by minimum tire utt, driving at less than 40 miles p^r hour and having old tire recappfd and retreaded," drivers were io\?. American Indians are so-called because Columbus believed tye landed in India when he discovered America. ; F reeman Brothers Grocery & Market WELCOMES ? ? THE POST WELCOMES - - - - Everyone who will participate in the Progress of our City and County. We are' proud of the progress we have achieved in . . . MAKING FRIENDS AND CUSTOMERS FRUITS AND VEGETABLES "Once a customer, always a customer" is our motto. Many STAPLE GOODS of our customers have traded with us consistently, year in AND FROZEN FOODS and year out, almost from the beginning. OUR REPUTATION FOR RELIABILITY, HONESTY AND FAIR DEALING ... is well known. Yet, solbe times we have bent over back- I babv rnnnc wards to please a customer. But we have always worked dABT rUUUb on the principle that a satisfied customer is our beat ad- DAIRY PRODUCTS vertisement. _ THE SERVICE WE RENDER We spare no effort to make shopping at our store easy for ? you. You can select items you want from our shelves, take CHOICE them with you, or have them delivered to your home. Or MFATC you can phase us yeur order; we'll select the Hems for you and deliver them promptly. TOO MUST BE SATISFIED DIAL 6-3115 705 ARENDELL ST. MOREHEAD CITY Congratulations ~ TO THE NEW STATE PORT ? J John L. Crump - REALTOR i GENERAL INSURANCE PHONE 6-4000 ' 823 ARENDELL ST. . MOREHEAD CITY
Carteret County News-Times (Morehead City, N.C.)
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Aug. 12, 1952, edition 2
15
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